http://somerset-kentucky.com/local/x2137254431/RAM-clinic-treats-681-patients
by Bill Mardis
Medical, dental and vision services worth $299,529 were provided without cost to 681 patients during the two-day Remote Area Medical (RAM) health care clinic last weekend at Southern Middle School.
Of the 1,231 procedures performed, 374 were medical, 360 were vision and 497 were dental. The free RAM clinic was designed for working people who can’t afford health insurance. Medicaid is available for the poorest people and KCHIP takes care of most children’s health needs in Kentucky.
But working adults with medical, vision and dental needs came in droves. Dentists pulled 862 teeth, filled 233 cavities and cleaned teeth for 104 patients. Optometrists wrote prescriptions for 278 pairs of glasses made on site. Medical examinations included cardiovascular, diabetes, diabetes management, cholesterol, health education and more. Podiatry treatments include ingrown toenails, painful lesions and diabetic foot evaluations.
Hosted by the Somerset-Pulaski County Morning Rotary Club, the RAM clinic was staffed by 454 volunteers, including medical, dental and vision specialists from this area as well as across the state and nation. Dr. Steven Hieronymus, event coordinator, said as many as 26 medical doctors, 45 dentists and 35 hygienists, including students from two out-of-state schools; 14 optometrists and ophthalmologists donated their time and services.
Hieronymus was lavish in his praise for both volunteers and patients. “It went off amazingly smooth for the first time ... there were no issues,” he said. Two patients were carried to the emergency room at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital with extremely high blood pressure.
Patients who received free care were required to take a number, beginning at 10 p.m. Friday, and 10 p.m. Saturday and remain in the parking area at Southern Middle School until the clinic began operating at 6 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
The overnight requirement is in place is because at previous clinics, persons have gotten numbers and didn’t return for treatment and in some cases the numbers were sold. Those who spent the night didn’t get hungry. Soup, beans, ham, drinks and snacks were provided throughout the night for those waiting in cars.
Knights of Columbus, a fraternal benefit society, staged a fish fry for volunteers Saturday night and Mete Surgen, chief chef for Oakwood, provided lunch Saturday and Sunday. Dorene Benjamin, member of the Rotary Club, working with the lunchroom staff at Southern Middle School, provided breakfast each morning.
The vision for RAM developed in the Amazon rain forest where founder Stan Brock spent 15 years with Wapishana Indians. Brock, co-star in the television series, “Wild Kingdom,” arrived in a vintage aircraft at Lake Cumberland Regional Airport at noon Friday and was here to greet patients during the clinic.
Brock, who lived with pain and suffering caused by isolation from medical care, founded RAM in 1985. It is made up of hundreds of doctors, nurses and technicians who go on expeditions at their own expense and treat hundreds of patients a day under some of the worst conditions.
“We’ve had over 65,000 volunteers (during the 26 years of RAM’s existence) and I understand we have 440 (actually 454) more here in Somerset this weekend,” said Brock. He said RAM has served about a half million patients.”
Even though Rotarians have not met since the clinic ended, Hieronymus indicated he believes the club will make efforts to bring the RAM clinic back to Somerset.
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